Hello you gorgeous Rotarians!
I’m sitting here on Friday night, 11pm, marking time before I pick up our first born from “The After Formal After Party,” at 2.00am! (the things we do) She turned 17 just two days ago and this year marks the end of her school years…year 12…but the beginning of more adventures! A year of reminiscing to some degree and excitement to see where life takes her. Hopefully Rotary will continue to be a part of her life. It’s hard to believe that as a newborn, she came to Rotary meetings and actually had 100% perfect attendance for her first year of life!! The President of the Club pulled me aside just as Jess turned 1 yr old and suggested that, as she was now chatting more than the guest speakers, perhaps it was time to find alternative arrangements for her on Thursday mornings - at 7am!!! Luckily, there was a lovely wife of a Rotarian who was absolutely more than happy to baby sit, even at that ungodly hour!! Lol! The Rotary family to the rescue again!
All three of our children, as with the children of other club members, have always been around Rotary, Rotarians, events & meetings. To them it is normal to associate with older people, sometimes in a serious setting (more often in a fun one!) - to see their parents working with others towards something worthwhile. I think it has been an unexpected bonus that our young people have developed a pretty good community work ethic, where it’s ok and normal to volunteer for the benefit of others. An important and perhaps elusive gift in our busy world.
“1966-67 Richard L. Evans (religion – L.D.S.), Rotary Club of Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Rotary vision: Applying its ideal to build a better world.
“Example, good or bad, is contagious....If we set a good example, seeing us, others may do likewise. All of us have more influence than we sometimes suppose.”
— The Appearance of Things, THE ROTARIAN, May 1967”
Last week’s meeting was suitably noisy with Committees meeting to discuss ideas and future projects. Some of these were brought to the Board Meeting for approval, others are still in the planning stage. Hopefully the “Corona Virus” won’t get in the way of our planned events, but we must be sensible at take on the advice of medial experts and government officials; so if it is that we need to postpone events, so be it. The health of our members and the public is paramount, so please be understanding if things change at short notice. District Conference is also in question. After all the hard work from the organising committee, and more locally, our own Costume Construction Committee, it will be extremely sad if it indeed is cancelled. However, I would suggest the overall Rotary demographic is a happy place for such a virus and the potential danger not to be sneezed at. Perhaps we’ll just have to have a picnic in the park - with acceptable distances between members - so we can all wear the fabulous costumes at least once!!
Anyway, time will tell on all these things. In the meantime, gather your pasta and hand sanitizer; renew your Foxtel membership; stock the cellar and relax. This too shall pass…
Have a great week and don’t forget the toilet paper!!
This week’s conundrum…..where to get the toilet paper!!!!???!!!
Catherine xxx
PS: Wash your hands - a lot!!
